Officine Panerai

Mr.Gatsby
2972

• Show profile
• Show other posts

Semi OT: What defines a good collection?

I have tried giving this question some serious thinking previously, but end up not following through my thoughts, as I tend to get lost in the myriad of beautiful timepieces created, past and present. So, the question is, what constitutes a good collection? Are you a 'one man band' or do you prefer diversity? Let's just say there is no one way to answering such a question, but the important point here is that this collection should represent your taste and preference in horology.

From a greenhorn's perspective, I'd like to stick to the old adage that 'variety is the spice of life'. However, I've witnessed my passion for Panerai develop strongly over the years, and it is somewhat difficult to diverse beyond Panerai  -- also, the financial constraint is a big reason. Ideally, I'd like variety amidst a well balanced collection, so brand wise, I'd like to have a mixture of Panerai, AP, IWC, FPJ, UN, Romain Gauthier and maybe say, Sarpaneva, just to keep things a little 'quirky' : ) However, the likelihood of achieving 'equality' in my collection is diminished when my Panerais heavily outweigh the others, and the solution to that is to buy more of the other brands to make the collection look 'balanced'. But, as mentioned, the financial constraint is always in effect, so equality to me cannot be achieved at this point.

Therefore, to make things look a little more 'balanced' to my liking, I diversify within Panerai. Appropriately, I would like to own all the different categories such as the Luminors, Radiomirs, Submersibles and Mare Nostrums. Within each category, I would diversify further by  materials used (i,e, PVD, titanium, SS etc), dial color and series. Then of course, I would further scrutinize my collection by looking at the various time periods, from post-vendome to A series, Pre-A series to pre-vendome and to the vintages, special editions/ de facto SEs and non SEs etc. So while I pursue my collection in this manner, I can say for sure I won't be able to have an ideal collection by acquiring more of another brand  I am interested to know the collection that constitutes your taste and preference in horology, or simply even your taste and preference concerning your Panerai collection )

And just to make things look a little more interesting, I would like to share with you'll a fine looking piece that just joined the 'stable'.

Lady Mare, the one that got away, but found it's way back

Hope to hear your views, and have a great coming weekend!